Chapter 21

A Ning, from now on other than the things your sister gives you, don't eat anything from anyone else.

Gu Ning couldn't get any words out. He felt like his sister was somehow different than before.

"As for your illness," Gu Ying said with an upturned lip and gentle voice, "Your sister already has a way to cure your illness. Stay in the Mu Feng Lodge for now and wait for your sister's good news."

The distracted look in Gu Ning's eyes focused a little as some light returned to them. "What do you mean?"

Gu Ying paused to think for a moment. Many things couldn't be accomplished all at once, it had to be done slowly. So she lovingly stroked his head and said, "A Ning, just be good and wait. Anyone could harm you, but your sister won't." After finishing speaking, she exhorted him a couple more times, then went out the manor gate with Cui Ling.

Cui Ling came in through the door and looked at the room in confusion. "Second young miss left?"

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Gu Ning's gaze sharpened and he quickly hid himself under the blankets without saying a word.

Cui Ling swayed her willowy waist and walked to the bedside. She glared contemptuously at the young master under the blankets and said sourly, "You're just a lucky young master who was born into the right family. Otherwise, even if you were thrown onto the streets, no one would be willing to touch you."

She remembered her mother's urging for her to get pregnant by this young master as soon as possible. But her mother was really foolish. Gu Ning was just a teenage boy whose legs were crippled. That thing down there was probably useless too. How could he possibly get her pregnant?

If she wanted to climb upwards, she would have to find another way.

Thinking this, she mischievously reached under the blankets and groped the youth's buttocks.

Gu Ning was so frightened that his whole body tensed up.

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Cui Ling laughed loudly and gleefully. She picked up the dog feces she had just gathered from outside and dumped it all over him.

"Hurry up and eat it, young master, young lord. This stuff is what you should be eating! Hahaha! And you still think you're the Bao Manor's young lord. You're not even as good as me, a maidservant!"

As she said this, she flipped his blankets open. Her small hands pulled down his pants. Gu Ning trembled in fright, a cold light flashed in his beautiful eyes.

But Cui Ling didn't care at all. She stared fixedly at his...

She narrowed her eyes. "If you weren't a little cripple, I, Cui Ling, might have been willing to be your woman. What a pity..." You stink right now. I wouldn't be willing to lower myself!"

Gu Ning clenched his fists tightly, breathing heavily. His eyes that seemed to want to eat someone glared at her, darkening. In the depths of his eyes, a faint furious fire continuously burned.

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"What are you looking at, useless cripple!"

Gu Ning was fiercely slapped, his little face knocked to the side.

But since his legs were crippled, he couldn't move at all. He didn't dare provoke this crazy woman either, so he could only endure it, trembling in that pile of disgusting feces and urine.

After tormenting the boy for a while, Cui Ling felt extremely refreshed.

Right then, Steward Wu snuck over to find her. His coarse hands pulled her out of Gu Ning's room. He put his arm around her waist, and his mouth went straight for her neck. He hurriedly and impatiently said, "Little slut, have you missed me these days!"

Cui Ling's breathing became erratic. She pushed against the man's chest flirtatiously, and angrily said, "Why are you in such a hurry? That crippled young master is still lying inside! What if someone sees us like this?"

"I already sent away everyone outside. No one is here now." Steward Wu leered and became even more brazen. He simply picked Cui Ling up and carried her back into the room. Right in front of Gu Ning, he put her onto the table, tore her clothes off, pressed down on top of her, and said, "Besides, this courtyard is so remote. Who would come see this cripple? Cui Ling, let's have fun, okay my darling? You must have missed me. You wanted a child didn't you? I'll give you one right now."

Cui Ling's body softened and she cried out beneath the steward on the table.

The two people's breathing intertwined, gradually becoming intoxicated with passion.

...

Gu Ying took Cui Ling and went towards the West Market of Bianjing.

Bianjing was the imperial capital, and naturally exquisitely splendid. But even the most prosperous places had dark, hidden corners.

The West Market was one such existence.

It was scattered with countless impoverished peddlers and commoners who could only earn money through labor. There were all kinds of shops for paintings, calligraphy, blacksmiths, wineries, teahouses.

And coincidentally, before Jiang Yin passed the imperial exam, his family lived right in the West Market.

To support Jiang Yin's studies, his mother Sun Shi and younger sister Jiang Ling'er had always washed clothes and did mending on this street, supplementing the household expenses and his school fees. In the past, she felt that although Jiang Yin was poor, he had high aspirations. He could use his studies to raise his mother and sister out of the mire and into a big house. She thought he was an admirable and likable man.

This was also part of the reason she was willing to marry him. After all, what she liked in her heart were men who were motivated and capable. She was also willing to suffer hardships with him, and work together to improve the Jiang family's circumstances.

But what did it amount to in the end?

It resulted in his coldness, his betrayal, his abandonment, his insults and torment...

Whenever Gu Ying thought of this, she felt suffocated.

The carriage stopped not far from the Jiang residence. Large snowflakes fell gently, covering the earth in silvery white.

The dark blue walls and black roof tiles were also covered in a layer of snow, making the winter scene even more frigid. Gu Ying gazed at the Jiang family's old house that she hadn't seen in a long time, dazing for a moment before getting off the carriage.

Today, Elder Lady Gu came to discuss marriage. The entrance to the Jiang residence was crowded with onlooking commoners, leaving barely any space to pass through.

She stood outside the crowds, and immediately saw Jiang Ling'er, who had stolen Jiang Yin's affections in her previous life. She also fell pregnant with Jiang Yin's child, but viciously aborted it to frame her.

Jiang Ling'er stood weakly and delicately at the entrance, like a fragile little white flower. Her eyes were slightly red, as if she had just cried.

The Jiang residence was lively inside, while outside, the crowds gossiped. They all said that after Jiang Yin passed the imperial exam as the second highest scholar, he would soon achieve great success and wealth.

Even Elder Lady Gu of the Dongping Gu Manor personally came to discuss marriage arrangements. They were all extremely envious and jealous.

But Jiang Ling'er put on a pretense of strength on her face. She didn't look happy at all. When no one was paying attention, her eyes that harbored deep feelings kept glancing at Jiang Yin.

In that moment, Gu Ying suddenly felt a chill rush from her feet up to her chest.

In her previous life, she had been the wife. So she had completely failed to realize that although Jiang Ling'er was an adopted daughter of the Jiang family, she grew up together with Jiang Yin and had long harbored deep feelings for him!

As she worked hard to earn money to support Jiang Yin's studies, could Jiang Yin's heart have been untouched by this "good younger sister"?

A cold wind blew at that time, and the snow felt like blades scraping her face. Gu Ying laughed bitterly, laughing at her own foolishness for not realizing Jiang Ling'er's feelings and true face earlier. She had let Jiang Ling'er bully her in the Jiang residence for two whole years.

"Miss, why are your eyes red?" Cui Ling frowned with worry.

She also didn't know if it was just her imagination, but whenever it involved Young Master Jiang, the young miss seemed to easily cry.

Could it be...the young miss still hadn't gotten over Young Master Jiang in her heart, and was reluctant for him to marry the eldest young miss?

That would not be good.